Good afternoon all. Yesterday like Hugh Currie did today Ian Cannell and I also birded the area between Valens Rd and Westover Rd on Flamborough Concession 6 W also in response to Cheryl Edgecombe’s Friday Ontbirds post.
We could not find any trail going north off of Concession 5 W that she mentioned except one that said Beware Of The Dog so we did not bird that trail but did hear a Vesper Sparrow as we drove towards Valens road from Highway 6. We did head over to the power line on the north side of Concession 6 W and we did quite well there. We found the singing and foraging Prairie Warbler low in the bushes at the 3rd tower and 4 singing male Blue-winged Warblers and 2 Black-billed Cuckoos between the road and the 2nd tower. Our walk from the road to the 3rd tower also produced 7 Grasshopper and 9 Field Sparrows, 11 Towhees, 2 Ovenbirds, 1 Sapsucker and a bunch of Catbirds, Kingbirds Song Sparrows. We could also here Grasshopper Sparrows and Field Sparrows on the south side of the road here. From here we headed up to the Beverly Swamp and added 10+ Yellow Warblers, 2 Chestnut-sided Warblers, 2 Redstarts, a N. Waterthrush, 2 Veerys, 1 more Black-billed Cuckoo, Pewee, and the usual House Wrens, Red-eyed and Warbling Vireos. After a break we headed down to Powerline Rd and entered the Dundas Valley CA from the north and along the path beside the field we found a bunch more Field Sparrows, 7 to be exact, as well as 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, a male and a female Mourning Warbler (not together), 2 more Chestnut-sided Warblers, several Common Yellowthroats, 2 Redstarts, 2 –3 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Downys, Flickers, and cutting through part of the valley we found 4 Scarlet Tanagers, 1 Yellow-throated Vireo, 4 Wood Thrush, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and several of some of the expected birds there. After here and dipping on the Red-headed Woodpeckers on Sawmill Rd we headed down to see if we could find the White Pelican and in this we were in luck. We found it preening on the bare island, the north most one (of 3) that I think is called Neare Island. FYI – As Ian and I were driving along Hwy 407 just west of Britannia Rd we notice 40 to 50 shorebirds in the ponds on the south side of the road. I mention this only to point out that – “They are coming” the shorebirds that is. We accessed these roads from Highway 6 south of highway 401, exiting at Exit #299 and the Pelican was seen from the Canadian Centre For Inland Waters parking lot at the south end of Burlington Beach. Norm Murr Richmond Hill, Ontario _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
